Portret van een onbekende man 1875 - 1934

This is Isaac Israels' sketch of an unknown man, made with pencil on paper. Israels is really thinking through his drawing here. You can feel the tentative quality of each line, and see the pentimenti. It's the art-making process itself that's on display. The texture of the paper gives the drawing a softness, which is offset by the jagged lines describing the contours of the man’s face. It’s interesting how Israels uses the bare minimum of lines to create an image. I’m particularly drawn to the hatching around the nose. It gives the man a sense of depth and volume, and also introduces the possibility of a shadow. Israels reminds me a bit of Degas, who also had this knack for capturing a subject with just a few strokes of his pastel or charcoal. Art is this ongoing conversation, isn’t it? This piece embraces that ambiguity. What do you see when you look at it?